


The Fearless Leader of the Phantom Thieves

by SecretRock



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Boy Sakamoto Ryuji, POV Sakamoto Ryuji, Post-November 20 Interrogation (Persona 5), let the phantom thieves be good friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29082903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretRock/pseuds/SecretRock
Summary: Getting a call from Ren isn't normally a big deal, even if it's after midnight. Getting a call from Morgana on Ren's phone while he's panicking is much more worrying.AKA, Ren's not doing as well as people thought after the interrogation. Ryuji goes to help him.
Relationships: Persona 5 Protagonist & Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist & Sakamoto Ryuji & Takamaki Ann, Persona 5 Protagonist & Takamaki Ann
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	The Fearless Leader of the Phantom Thieves

Maybe going to bed early was in their best interests these days. Between needing to act as normal as possible at school and needing their energy for Shido’s palace, being well rested was basically a necessity. But Futaba had recently introduced Ryuji to this really cool new show and, honestly, it was more normal for him to sleep through classes than to pay attention. With that in mind, Ryuji clicked to watch the next episode.

Just as the cyborg street kid squared up to fight the rampaging cop robot (Futaba had great taste in TV shows), Ryuji’s phone buzzed. Eh, he could ignore it until after the fight. But then, what if Shido had found one of them? Makoto had seemed confident that he’d leave them alone until after the election as long as he thought Ren was dead, but Ryuji wasn’t too sure. Reluctantly, he paused the fight and checked his phone, just in case it was something important.

**Ren** : fjnewuf widf hinaksbewe

It didn’t seem important. Could it have been an accidental text?

**Ryuji** : u ok?

He waited a few seconds and another text came through.

**Ren** : wde,mwrgtnjcyhui

Yeah…there was no deciphering that. Ryuji wasn’t sure what to do. It was (he checked the time) 3 am, way past when Ren usually went to sleep. They didn’t seem like accidental texts. Was Ren sleepwalking? Did he sleepwalk? Ryuji jumped slightly when his phone began to ring and he mashed at the accept button to avoid waking his mum.

“Ren?” He asked as soon as it was connected.

“No, it’s me.” Morgana’s voice carried over the line. “Listen, I need help.”

“You? You need my help?” Ryuji couldn’t help gloating. “Can’t open the cat food?”

“Let me rephrase: Ren needs your help.”

Ryuji sat up properly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know! He was sleeping restlessly, then he woke up and he’s shaking and won’t let me near and I don’t know what to do!” Morgana wailed.

Ryuji was already jumping out of bed as Morgana spoke. He’d never heard Morgana so panicked, even when he was talking about his past or when he’d run off to try and take on Okumura on his own. He pulled a jacket off the back of his chair. Trains wouldn’t be running at this time of night but he had a bike. That would be good enough.

“Unlock the door, I’ll be…” How long? How fast could he cycle? “Twenty minutes.”

“Please hurry!” Morgana said, and Ryuji hung up.

He scribbled a quick note for his mum as he pulled his shoes on. ‘Gone to help a friend. I’ll see you tonight.’ Enough to make sure she didn’t worry. Then he was out the front door and running down the stairs. He had a map up on his phone, showing him the shortest way to Leblanc. Soon enough, he was rushing through the streets on his bike. Once he was sure of the way, he pressed call and brought the phone back up. It rang a few times, Ryuji beginning to worry that she wouldn’t pick up.

“Ryuji…?” Ann mumbled sleepily. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Ryuji panted. He really needed to cycle more.

“Are you out of breath?” Ann asked.

“Yeah, I’m cycling. I need you to meet me at Leblanc. Morgana said Ren’s freaking out about something,” Ryuji said, nearly dropping his phone as he took a sharp turn. The sounds of Ann moving carried over the phone.

“Meet you there in ten?” She asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Ryuji agreed.

Ann hung up and Ryuji pushed himself to go faster. Maybe it would have been smarter to ask Morgana to take the phone to Ren or to call Futaba to make sure someone got there quickly. It was too late now. Ryuji could barely keep his phone pinned between the handle bars and his sweaty hand. He was nearly there anyway. Leblanc came into sight not even a minute later and he jumped from his bike, hitting the ground running and barely avoiding a crash.

The door to Leblanc was unlocked and the small bell’s jingle sounded deafening in the quiet streets. Ryuji brought his bike in and leaned it on one of the booths. Morgana sat on the counter, tail swishing anxiously. If he noticed Ryuji still wear pyjamas, he didn’t say anything.

“He’s upstairs,” Morgana said. “He’s calmed down but he still won’t talk to me.”

Ryuji just nodded and rushed for the stairs. He took care to not be too loud while climbing them.

There weren’t any lights on in Ren’s room but the streetlights out the window lit up the room just enough to see things. Ren’s duvet was in a pile halfway across the room, his glasses having skittered across the room until they hit his plant. Ren himself was sitting on the floor by the bed, head in his hands.

“Ren?” Ryuji asked quietly. Ren didn’t respond but his chest expanded as he took a deep breath. “You wanna talk?” He asked again, slowly approaching.

He picked up Ren’s glasses as he passed. With still no response, Ryuji sat next to Ren, leaving a gap between the two of them and leaning back against the crates that supported the mattress. He caught sight of Morgana hanging back by the top of the stairs.

“Morgana said you were having a nightmare,” Ryuji said. “You don’t gotta talk about it, but if you wanna…” Ryuji left the offer hanging. Silence passed between the two of them. “If you don’t, then you can beat me at Star Forneus until morning.”

Ren still didn’t move and Ryuji was running out of ideas. He was never the best at emotions but he figured he could at least distract Ren was whatever was bothering him. Apparently not. Morgana’s staring didn’t make him feel any better about it all. If he couldn’t help the guy who’d helped him through so much, what was the point in Ryuji calling himself Ren’s friend?

From downstairs, the bell above the door rang. Morgana turned and ran downstairs, and Ren lifted his head a little too.

“Ann said she’d come too,” Ryuji told Ren. Ren nodded at that which was at least better than before.

A second later, Ann appeared at the stop of the steps. She glanced around the room before her gaze settled on Ren and Ryuji.

“Mind if I turned the light on?” She asked. Ren just nodded again.

Ryuji winced as the bright light came on. It was almost better in the dark, at least then he couldn’t see Ren’s red rimmed eyes and the yellow and blue bruises on his face. He still had the bandages around his wrists from where the handcuffs dug into his skin. They’d all given Ren a week or some to recover before coming to see him, partially to avoid suspicion but mostly because Sojiro insisted Ren needed rest. Even so, with the rest of the half-healed bruises and cuts, Ryuji could imagine how they got there.

Ann took a moment to compose herself then walked over to join them, picking up Ren’s discarded bedsheets on the way and tossing them onto the bed. She sat on the other side of Ren and Morgana sat up in her lap.

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

“Wonderful,” Ren said. He flashed a smile so genuine that Ryuji might have believed him if it hadn’t been for everything else about the situation.

Very gently, Ann put one of her hands over Ren’s. He stayed completely still as she did so.

“You don’t have to lie,” Ryuji said.

“I’m the fearless leader,” Ren said, shaking his head. “I’ll be fine.”

Ryuji felt like he’d been punched. He’d used those exact words before. They’d been meant as a compliment about how he always stayed so calm and cool in battle. About how he never gave up.

“You don’t have to be fearless. You couldn’t just be Ren.” Ann gave Ren’s hand a squeeze and Ren hung his head. His shoulders began to shake and Ryuji put an arm around them and leaned into Ren’s side.

“What’s wrong, Ren?” Morgana asked, half climbing onto Ren’s legs.

There was a pause as Ren collected himself enough to speak, rubbing absently at the bandages on his arms. His chest shook as he hiccupped.

“It’s nothing, I just-“ A hic interrupted him and he took a deep breath. “I know I agreed to it, but in the interrogation-“

He broke down again and Ryuji wrapped his other arm around Ren, squeezing him tight as he sobbed. Ann held Ren’s hand tighter, pressing her forehead into his shoulder as Morgana leaned on him and purred gently.

“You don’t hafta say anything, but we’re never letting a cop near you again, okay?” Ryuji said.

Ren didn’t respond. He just put his arms around Ryuji and Ann and pulled them both closer. They stayed like that until Ren’s breathing was steady and then a little longer too. Slowly, Ren pulled away from the three of them.

“You two have school soon,” he reminded them. “Sorry I kept you up half the night.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ann assured him.

“Yeah, I just sleep through class anyway. And I’ll lose as much sleep as needed to help you feel better.” Ryuji ruffled Ren’s hair who batted away his hand with a laugh.

The light coming through the window had changed from streetlights to early dawn sun. Ryuji’s eyes felt heavy but he didn’t care. It was a night well spent.

“We need to get to school, and I think you need some sleep,” Ann said to Ren. She squeezed his hand again before getting up. “Want me to make you some food before we leave?”

Ren shook his head. With a small smile, Ann leaned down and kissed his forehead. Ryuji didn’t move as she made her way to the stairs, staying with his arm pressed against Ren’s. Ren absently stroked Morgana, who’d fallen asleep at some point during the night.

“I can stay, if you want,” Ryuji offered. Who needed school?

“You should go, to avoid suspicion.” Ren smiled at him. Ryuji leaned forward and gave him one last hug.

“I’m coming round later. That’s a threat.” Ren chuckled as Ryuji pointed threateningly. “You need to talk about anything, anything, today or whenever, you message me, okay?”

“Got it,” Ren said. Ryuji waved and turned to leave. When he was at the top of the stairs, Ren called out “Oh, and thank you.”

Ryuji just smiled back.

**Author's Note:**

> We should have seen more of this in the game! Let Joker be upset about the horrible things that happened to him! The awful treatment in the interrogation having absolutely no consequences was such a let down.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!


End file.
